Britain, Beautiful, Interesting and Sometimes Strange

A dull June day at Sheffield Park, Sussex and its beauty is still there for all to see, 25th June 2021.

Mottisfont Abbey Walled Gardens during a break in the very wet June weather, 20th June 2021.

A dull June day at Sheffield Park, Sussex and its beauty is still there for all to see, 25th June 2021.

Untitled image in Shrugborough Hall (29260)

Untitled image in Shrugborough Hall (29255)

The estate was owned by the Bishops of Lichfield until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, upon which it passed through several hands before being purchased in 1624 by William Anson, a local lawyer and ancestor of the Earls of Lichfield. The estate remained in the Anson family for three centuries. Following the death of the 4th Earl of Lichfield in 1960, the estate was allocated to the National Trust in lieu of death duties, and then immediately leased to Staffordshire County Council. Management of the estate was returned to the National Trust in 2016.

View inside the Castle 30th July 2017.The building of the curtain wall followed, probably during 1160–1190 by Robert and then by his son Maurice.[5][9] Much of the rest of the castle is 14th century and was built for Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley: Thorpe's Tower, to the north of the keep, the inner gatehouse to its southwest, and other buildings of the inner bailey

The home of Edward Jenner, The Chantry, Jenner's home in Berkeley for 38 years, is now a museum. Jenner inoculated local people, free of charge, in a one-room hut in the garden, which he called the "Temple of Vaccinia".

View from Castle 30th July 2017.

Untitled image in Brockham Bonfire, 3rd November 2012. (28898)

Some of the crowd.

Untitled image in Brockham Bonfire, 3rd November 2012. (28899)

Harbourside, 25th September 2020. The Wemouth Tramway, (on the left) connected to the main railway network for once working boat trains to the then Channel Island ferry terminal.

Haddon Hall,Derbyshire,2nd August 2019.

Haddon Hall,Derbyshire,2nd August 2019.

Mottisfont,8th June 2019.

Mottisfont,8th June 2019.

Near Seend, looking East 4th July 2019.

Untitled image in Miscellaneous photographs from around the British Isles (Gallery Nine) -Views of Lacock Abbey & its surrounds. (26772)

Untitled image in Miscellaneous photographs from around the British Isles (Gallery Nine) -Views of Lacock Abbey & its surrounds. (26773)

Untitled image in Miscellaneous photographs from around the British Isles (Gallery Nine) -Views of Lacock Abbey & its surrounds. (26768)

Untitled image in A Visit to Salisbury - 10th July 2018. (25494)

Untitled image in A Visit to Salisbury - 10th July 2018. (25486)

Untitled image in A Visit to Salisbury - 10th July 2018. (25492)

Around Bristol Temple Meads,24th March 2018.

St Peter's is a ruined church in Castle Park, Bristol, England. It was bombed during World War II and is now preserved as a memorial.The foundation of the church can be traced back to 1106 when it was endowed on Tewkesbury Abbey, with a 12th-century lower tower, the rest of the church being built in the 15th century. Excavations in 1975 suggest that this was the site of Bristol's first church; the 12th-century city wall runs under the west end of the present church. It was bombed during the Bristol Blitz of 24-25 November 1940 and ruined. It is maintained as a monument to the civilian war dead of Bristol.It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building. The church ran St Peter's Hospital, a workhouse on St Peter's Street which was destroyed by bombing during the Bristol Blitz.21st March 2017.

A woodland walk on the Bowood Estate near Chippenham,Wiltshire.4th May 2018.Tree Burrs on an old Oak Tree. They are a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds.

Untitled image in Kew Gardens at Christmas. (22393)

Heating was an important element of the glasshouse’s design, as tropical palms need a warm, moist environment to thrive. Originally, basement boilers sent heat into the glasshouse via water pipes running beneath iron gratings in the floor. A tunnel ran between the Palm House and the Italianate Campanile smoke stack that stands beside Victoria Gate. This 150-metres long (490ft) passage served the dual purpose of carrying away sooty fumes to be released from the chimney and enabling coal to be brought to the boilers by underground railway.Today, the glasshouse is heated using gas, and the tunnel houses the Palm House Keeper’s office.

Untitled image in Kew Gardens at Christmas. (22384)